Nourish with Nish (the vegan student handbook)

Being a student is hard enough, but if you’re on a tiny budget and living in a bedsit with a tiny cooker and fridge, then these books can help you eat right and save money. So you can spend more time partying and drinking beer!

Store cooked leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months (write date it was cooked, on the lid). Defrost thoroughly overnight in the fridge, and don’t refreeze or reheat.

Nourish with Nish may well be ‘the cookbook’ that you have been looking for all your life, if you’re not a natural chef and get fed up with books that say they are simple, but aren’t. This is a real find (found in a library by accident, as it’s self-published so not on all the ‘main lists’).

The author wrote it while a student, and it’s as simple as it gets. Basically telling you how to make a bowl of pasta with lentils, or a good salad or wrap, or simple pancakes or flapjacks. But all the recipes work and are delicious and affordable, made with real ingredients, and for small servings.

Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (many foods are unsafe near animal friends). Bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives) and citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps, as acids could harm compost creatures. It’s okay to put them in food waste bins (made into biogas).

For tinned foods, fully remove lids (put inside) or pop ring-pulls back over holes (and pinch top opening closed) before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.

Not just for students, the book includes budgeting tips and how to read food labels, plus 71 recipes including 11 breakfasts, 15 lunches, 20 dinners, 5 soups (one for ‘each colour of the rainbow’), 10 sides, 5 desserts and 5 smoothies. Get these off pat, and you’re set up for a lifetime of good food!

The recipes include: